Some solid advice.

By now most of you have seen the Ford commercial touting the towing where the truck loses the boat.Well much to my :embarassed: I had me a Ford moment last evening.I had just got done getting skunked on the Ohio for the second time.Well I had loaded up and was leaving and for some reason they have put in some speed bumps from hell on the road.As I hit the bump with the trailer I heard a pop and watched my boat pass me shooting sparks from the front of the trailer.It narrowly missed hitting someones trailer before coming to a stop.Lucky I have no damage except for my pride. What I think happened while I was out someone messed with the latch on my ball and when it hit the bump it decided to drive itself.My advice is to everyone do what I am going to do from now on double check everything before leaving.I got lucky it happened in a parking lot and not on the interstate. Thought I would pass this alone due to alot of you guys have a lot nicer boats then I do.

Good tip to pass on, embarrasing but at least it will help someone. I'm just glad theres no damage and no one got hurt. I hooked up a trailer one time, it was a new one to me and the driver and someone else came to help. I got out the way to let em, but they didn't check everything, I let em handle it since they were familiar with it. They had some problems too, late at nite and tired so didn't check everything either.

Brian, several weeks ago, one of the rear brakes on my boat trailer stuck, so I called a bud and asked him if I could use his boat trailer. He said sure, come on over and I will hook it up for you. So, I arrive at his place, back the truck up to his hitch and start to get out and help him. He tells me to stay in the truck and he will take care of everything. I leave and head to the landing to get my boat out. Everything goes perfect and I'm on the road and about ten minutes later I hit a slight bump in the road and the boat and trailer start swaying behind me. I slowed down and headed for a wide shoulder. When I got stopped, the trailer tongue went up under the truck and then stopped. Got back to the rear of the truck and first thing I saw was that the latch lever was pointed at the truck and not back toward the boat. My salvation was that he had crossed the tow chains and I was not going fast when it came unhitched. A fellow stopped and it so happens that he had a floor jack in his truck and he jacked the rig up and we reattached the hitch to the ball, with the lock latch in the proper position. I thanked the fellow that helped me and gave him my business card and promised him a free fishing trip this Spring. Lesson learned in never trust anybody other than yourself when dealing with a trailer hookup. Also, check it each and every time you stop.

Dew, I appreciate you sharing your story. It was honest and maybe slightly embarrassing but you decided to tell others to save them from the same fate.....Thankyou.

I lost a 8' x 16' trailer fully loaded with vinyl siding and scaffolding. My chains caught it thank God but it beat the heck out of my tailgate. My helper hooked it up before sunrise and I didn't check.....my bad.

If you own the vehicle IMO you should always, always, always check it yourself. You are responsible for your passengers safety, and the safety of other people around you on the road.